Device for measuring soil resistance



June 2, 1953 A. P. JOURDAIN;

DEVICE FOR MEASURING SOIL RESISTANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 7. 1950 ai n I Mm, A Y

IAQ/X June 2, 1953 A. P. JOURDAIN DEVICE FOR MEASURING son. RESISTANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June '7, 1950 /NVE/VTAR A/VRt PAUL JoURpA/N Patented June 2, 1953 DEVICE FOR MEASURING SOIL RESISTANCE Andr Paul Jourdain, Liege, Belgium, assignor to Compagnie Internationale des Pieux Armes Frankignoul, Societe Anonyme, Liege, Belgium Application June 7, 1950, Serial No. 166,740 In France June 16, 1949 4 Claims. 1

It is known to investigate the subsoil up to a great depth, especially in order to ascertain the bearing power thereof, by means of a boring device including a point which is driven into the soil through the medium of a rod that is guided with practically no friction in an outer sheath, a tight seal being provided at the bottom of the said sheath in order to prevent ingress of earth between the latter and the said rod. In order to measure, on the one hand, the resistance from the subsoil to the penetration of the said point and, on the other hand, the

resistance due to lateral friction against the sheath-which mean two magnitudes that should be known each for itselfit is necessary, when known devices are used, to drive in the first place the point and the sheath simultaneously, in order to ascertain the total resistance, and then to interrupt the driving and withdraw the mechanical means used for driving the sheath, and thereafter to perform driving of the point alone for a certain distance, and to measure separately the resistance encountered in driving the latter. The known method is therefore intricate and essentially non-continuous, which has a markedly retarding eiect on the measuring action. Moreover, and as a result of the rather considerable relative movement of the point with respect to the sheath, ingress of earth between the rod and the sheath takes place unavoidably between the rod and the sheath despite the provision of a tight seal, thus causing the two members to jam, so that the results are cornpletely fouled. Finally, special attention must be drawn to the circumstance that, owing to the fact that there is no continuous measurement of the force involved by the penetration, the readings provided by the known devices are insufficient to convey a full knowledge of the ground under prospection.

The present invention relates to a device that -makes it possible to effect a continuous and simultaneous measurement of the two magnitudes in question, thus doing away with the aforesaid drawbacks of the known devices.

A According to the invention, the device includes a piston connected to the rod of the boring point and mounted in a hydraulic cylinder adapted to act positively upon the sheath surrounding the said rod, means for measuring the pressure effective in the said cylinder and corresponding to the force applied upon the said piston, while the cylinder itself is submitted to a hydraulic pressure which is measured in turn and indicates the magnitude of the overall driving force. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the said cylinder is rigid with a second hydraulic cylinder coaxial therewith, the piston of which has imparted to it the total driving force.

By this means one has the possibility to measure on the one hand, the total force to be applied in order to drive the point and the sheath and, on the other hand, the force required for driving the point alone. The two measurements may be eiiected in continuous and simultaneous way and all that is necessary in order to nd out the force required lfor driving the sheath alone is to substract the two magnitudes from one another.

Further features and advantages of the invention will appear from the disclosure of one example of carrying the same into effect, as will be given hereinafter with reference to the accompanying diagrammatical drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an overall view, in vertical section, showing a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, such as used for driving.

Fig. 2 is a view, partly in vertical section, showing the device such as used for withdrawing.

Fig. 3 is a section on line IlI-III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a detail of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified embodiment of a structural detail, and

Fig. 6 is a partial elevational view of the device as mounted onfa carriage.

As shown more particularly in Fig. 1, the device includes a body I provided with two cylindrical chambers 2, 3, in which coaxial pistons 4, 5 are arranged to slide. The chambers 2 and 3 are filled with oil, respective pressures being measured by the pressure gauges 6, 1, each communicating with one of the said chambers. The pistons are provided with packing seals 8, 9, e. g. of leather, which are retained by arresting plates I0, II secured by means of screws to the bottoms vof the pistons.

The piston rod I2 bears upon the rod I3, which is secured, e. g. by means of screws, to the conical point I4 adapted to be driven into rthe ground. A hollow cone I5 is screwed into the lower end of the body-I and has its lower end resting upon the sheath I6 encircling the rod I3, the upper end of the sheath being engaged in a cavity in the lower end of the cone I5. The cone serves as a guide for the rod I3 slidably mounted therein.

The sheath I6 is shorter than rod I3 and extends a certain distance short of the point I4 and its lower end is engaged in a sleeve I'I integral with the said point, a packing I8, e. g. of tallowed hemp, being adapted to secure a tight seal between the sheath and the sleeve. The said seal may be held in place by means of a ring I9, which is screwed into the lower end ofthe sheath and serves as a guide for the rod 3.

The piston rod 20 of the piston 4 is guided in a ring 2i screwed in the upper end of the body I. The driving force-'is applied onto the head 22 of the rod 20 by a driving member providing a great length oftravel, ei g. a Idriving screw 23.

The whole assembly is mounted upon a suitable support, e. g. a suitably w'eighted'carriage 3'I supporting the driving means, especially those for actuating the screw 23, together with the guiding means for the device according to the invention. 'Ilhe driving -means shown in Fig. 6 include a nut 38 cooperating withthe screw 23 and havingl an external tooth portion 39 in engagement with pinion 40 driven by any suitable conventional means. The guiding action may be secured e. g. by a yoke -24 embracing `a square portion of the piston rod 2i! of the piston d, the said yoke being provided with two arms 25, 26, the ends of which are slidable in vertical guide members 41,42 supported upon the said carriage. The guide member 4I lhas a scale for reading the driving amplitude.

When a driving .force is applied -onto the head 22, such force is transmitted by the piston 4 and the oil contained in the chamber 2 to the z' with the resistance encountered by those two` members in the ground. The force necessary for overcoming the4 resistance encountered by the point is provided by the piston 5 exclusively and is therefore measured by the'pressure gauge 1.

The outer diameter of the sleeve I-I is decreasing slightly froml bottom-to top; As a result, the sleeve is not subjected to friction from the ground against the lateral face thereof, so

that the only magnitude measured through the medium of the point is the resistance from the subsoil to the penetration of the said point. The sheath I6 has an outer diameter that equals the largest diameter of the point and is therefore subjected solely to the later-al friction from the earth. The .lower end of the sheath has a reduced diameter in order to provide for a-free annular space required to allowfor small` relative movement of the sleeve aroundthe sheath.

As the driving proceeds, extension sections are added, e. g. by screwing, to the rod I^3 and the sheath I6. The extensionl sections of the sheath have the same diameter as the latter, their lower end portion being tapped sogas-to fit the screw threaded upper end portion of the preceding section. The length of travel of the driving member 23 should be at Vleast-equal tothe length of each the said sections, e. .g.- from 1.5 to 2 metres.

It will be seen that the device-.according to the invention makes it possible to plot rapidly during each non-interrupted driving operation, a continuous diagram of the resistances encountered by the sheath and the point. Owing to the arrangement of the seal I8 within the sleeve I'I every risk of ingress of earth is practically eliminated, so that there is no reason to fear a mutual jamming between the rod I3 and the sheath I6, the relative movement between the two members being moreover quite limited.

The device according to the invention makes it possible to effect the withdrawal of the rod I3 and sheath It, such as shown in Figs. 2 4, in a simple and expeditious manner. After the del. sired depth has been reached, the body I is raised slightly so as to disengage the pusher cone I5 and vthe piston rod I2 from the sheath `IS` and the rod I3 respectively. A lifting annulus 2'1 is engaged around the sheath I6 and a ring 28 is screwed onto the upper end portion of the said sheath, while a screw having a Wide head 22 is screwed into the upper end portion of' the rod I3. Two lifting links 30 are pivotally connected to the annulus 27 by means of pins 3l. The other ends of the links 3Q terminate in heads 32 of hammer or like shape, which are engageable in two pairs of brackets 33 rigid with the body I. Hence, as the body I'is further being lifted, the links 3e and the annulus 21 are also lifted, the said annulus taking with it in turn the ring 23 together with the sheath IB. The ring 28 will next meet the projecting head of the screw 29 and then pull the latterup- Wards together with the rod I3.

Fig. 5 shows a modied embodiment of the component sections of the sheath I6 and the rod I3.' Each component section of the rod I3 has its lower end formed with a thickened portion 34 arranged to enter a corresponding widened out portion 35 of the central bore of each of the sections of the sheath I6. In this instance the screw 2e (Fig. 2) is no more'required, since, when the sheath is being lifted, each thickened portion 3l! will abut the end shoulder 3% of the adjacent sheath section.

Fig. 5 also shows a modified constructional embodiment of the connection between the sleeve I-'I and the lower end of the sheath I6, the packing ring IS being located ldirectly in a groove provided in that end of the sheath, so that the clamping ring I9 (Fig. l) may be eliminated.

Fig. 5 does not show any clearance space between the relatively sliding members. In fact, the said members engage each othery practicallywithout friction. In Figs. 1 to 3, however, the clearance space between those members has been magnified for the clearness of the drawing,

It will be understood `that the invention is :not limited to the example of embodiment as described and illustrated, and that the same may becarried out in various structural forms.

I claim:

l. A device for measuring soil resistance, including a boring point to be driven into the ground, a rod operatively Aconnected to said point, an outer sheath yslidably arranged 'with practically no friction around said rod, a tight seal between the lower portions of the sheath and the rod, a body having a hydraulic cylinder at the lower end adapted to transmita driving force to the said-sheath, a piston mounted in said cylinder and ladapted to transmit adrivving force to the said-rod, means for `measuring the pressure eieetive in said cylinder, means for applying a hydraulic pressure onto said body, and means for measuring the latter hydraulic pressure.

2. A device for measuring soil resistance, including a boring point to Abe driven into the ground, a rod operatively connected to said point, an outer sheath slidably arranged with practically no friction around said rod, a tight seal between the lower portions of the sheath and the rod, a body having a hydraulic cylinder at the lower end adapted to transmit a driving force to the said sheath, a piston mounted in said cylinder, arranged coaxially above said rod and adapted to transmit a driving force thereto, means for measuring the pressure effective in said cylinder at the upper end thereof, a second cylinder arranged coaxially above said rst cylinder and integral therewith, a second piston mounted in said second cylinder,

ANDR PAUL JOURDAIN.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 573,239 Germany Mar. 29, 1933 307,509 Italy May 6, 1933 600,259 Germany July 18, 1934 43,095 Holland May 16, 1938 

